Process of treating liquids



G. SINCLAIR.

PROCESS 0F TREATING LIQUIDS.

APPLICANON FILED D508, 191:.

1,897,550, Patented Nov. 22, 1921.

george Sin cZa/v,

narran sfu-,Aras

Parisian# oFFxcl-z.

GEoRGE sINeLArR, or TAYLoRs Farris, MINNESOTA.

Pnocn'ss or TREATINGLIQUIDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 22, 1921.

,ApplicationA led December 8,1917.-` Serial No. 206,244.

-milk or cream and the cultivation and propagation ofthe pure milk or cream seed germ, which gives the vmilk or cream lts agreeable aroma and natural taste, and doing this in such a way that the milk or cream has not the cooked, and deadened taste commonly attained by some other proc'- esses. i

More particularly this invention is an improvement upon the process set forth in Patent Number 1,175,876, granted to me on the 14th day' of March, 1916, for' method of vtreating milk or'cream. 4It is well known that sterile milk or cream is considered as being practically free of germ'life. and that "therefore beneficial results upon the digestive canal would .naturally be lacking. Hence the milk or cream is an inferior product.` This has led to the refertilization of such milk or cream by implantations of cultures of avoring bacteria as butter iavor, ilavorine, etc., of pure lactic acid bacteria,

and pure lacticv acid in an attempt to reha-v bilitzte the milk or cream in which the germs have been destroyed. This seed germ, re-

ferred to above, after in incubation in ywhich it is not retarded by harmful bacteria and impurities, and thus obliged to iight for its existence develops a mo'stessential avor in the milk or cream, and remain suiciently resistantto withstand the final or lpasteuriz-A ing heat, andA remain as an active agent in the milk or cream when consumed.` `This 'beneficial result is still further produced by my improved' process and theA resulting product ,is milk orcream highly iiavored and substantially free from impurities.

It is well known that milk and cream are affected by the sanitary condition of the dairy where drawn and by its later care and treatment, and it is an object of this process to remove the impurities in the milk or creamv tending to taint the same. and to-develop the benelicial and valuable part of the I germ life as soonas possible. Naturally the soonery treated afterbeingjdrawn, the better, as the harmful-germs have not had a change to develop and, compete with the beneficial germ. The presence of a suitable degree of heat and lactic acid greatly increases the activity of the benecent germ (such as B. acidi Zetz'), and it is the opinion of some that this germ overcomes the harmful germ life 'and eliminates it.

Wlth this end in view, my invention consists broadly in-v raising the temperature of the milk or cream to approximately about 145 to 150 degrees'Fahrenheit, thel application of such heat being regulated according f to the amount of contamination in the milk or cream as Idetermined by bacteriological tests orotherwise. y During this heating operation and thereafter during` the' entire process, the milk or cream issubjectedtothe flow of sterile air over, aboutor up through the same. The milk or cream is next flashed to `approximately 17() vto y 185 degrees F ahrenheit to assure the further killing of germs Tand then cooled toa ripening tem erature of from 50 to 65 degrees Fahren eit for from about 48 to 96'hours, or that best suited to ycause the development of germs and of giving the milk or cream its agreeable odor or aroma. The temperature is next further reduced to about 35 to 45 ydegrees Fahrenheit and held at this temperature for about 12 hours, for the purpose of developing` germs and agreeable odor, tlie -impure gases which` are developed being scavenged away by the air.

" In the-'accompanying vdrawing forming part of this specification, the figure is a side elevation partly in section of one formof apparatus by the use of which my improved vprocess can be carried into use. 4 y The milk or'cream to Abe treated is placed -in a closed vat A, and its temperature controlled by a revoluble heating coil B in said vat and submerged in -the li uid to be treated. Thiskheating coil whic is shown as being' revolvedyby the, pulley 2 driven v by any suitablesource of poweris. supplied with steam orY other heating medium by the rpipe 3, the supply of lsteam beingopened',

closed or regulated by a' valve 4. The'milk or cream so placed 1n the vat yisv raised to a temperature which is sufficient to kill substantially all harmful germs and convert the,

beneficial ones to spores, said` temperature being substantially in the vicinity of 150 degrees Fahrenheit. The milk' or cream previous to being treatedin the vat is tested to determine the amount of impurities therein, the presence of which affects the odor thereof, and the temperature is raised gradually in the vat until substantially 145 to 155 degrees Fahrenheit is reached, resulting in the elimination or destruction of the weaker and harmful germs, and the conversion of beneficial organisms into. their spores. While this step of the process is being carried out the foul and animal odors are carried away from the liquid in the vat by passing a current of purified air overthe surface and up through the liquid by means of the air ingress pipes 5 and 6, the pipe 5 leading into the vat above the surface of the liquid and the pipe 6 being submerged in thev liquid and provided with port openings 7 through which the air is blown upwardly through the liquid. The pipes 5 and 6 have controlling valves 8 and 9, and both are connected with a supply pipe 10 emanating from la heating element C, which is in the form of a steam coil or other suitable means situated in an inclosure 11, which receives outside fresh air through` an ingress duct 12 leading from al blower 13. Thus the foul and animal odors are discharged from t-he liquid which is4 thus rendered quite sweet and pure. By careful experiment, it has been found that the best results are obtained by regulating theapplication of this heat according to the condition of the milk or cream, that is the temperature is raised slowly, if the odor of the milk or cream is excessive or bad, and if good the temperature is ra1sed rapidly, care being taken not to raise the temperature vabove substantially 155 degrees Fahrenheit, until the odors emanating therefrom have become clean and agreeable. lhen desired, the air can be washed previous to its use to cleanse it of all impurities. The air after becoming intimately associated with the liquid in the vat exhausts through thev duct 14 extending from the upper portion. The agitation ofthe liquid also promotes intimate contact of the air with the liquid. As the primary application of heat is advanced in degree, the evolution of the gases is correspondingly increased and it will be appre elated that a greater force or flow of washed air through they pipes 5 and G will be required to properly Vcope with such gases to drive them off from the liquid through the exhaust duct 14. This regulation of air and heat can be controlled by operating the valves 4, 8 and 9." The liquid in the vat after the odor has become clean and agreeable is next kflashed to a temperature of approximately 170 to 185 degrees Fahrenheit and then cooled to a ripening .temperature of from 53 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit or that best adapted for the, development of the germ giving the milk or cream its agreeable flavor or aroma. During the second or rapid heating of the liquid a flow of the sterile air is directed thereover and therethrough in order to remove any further possible foul odors remaining after the primary treatment orwhich might generate during the flash. After flashing, the temperature of the liquid is reduced to approximately 50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit, at which temperature it is maintained for from 48 to 96 hours, varying in length of time according to the condition of the milk. V'Vhen vegetation is very rapid, this temperature is maintained for the shorter-period, and when vegetation is slack, the longer period of treatment is required. This continued temperature causes the propagation of the seed germ, part of the sugar being converted into lactic acid. This simulates as closely as possible a natural purifying process. When this step is completed the tempera ture is next reduced to about 35 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit, and the milk or cream held for a period of time extending about 12 hours. During both of these last steps, sterile air at substantially the same temperature of the milk is circulated over and through the milk or cream, thus removing substantially all impure gases generated by the action. The resulting product is milk or cream vsubstantially free of'all impurities, the air carrying off' the obnoxious gases and the pure germ in the milk or cream feeding on the tissue of the impure germc Having described my invention what I claim 'as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

A process of preparing milk or cream containing'a germ valuable to the digestive system consisting of gradually heating the milk or cream to about 145 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit to inure the germ and its spores to an increased temperature and to destroy deleterious organisms, meanwhile introducing sterile air in intimate contact with the 48 to 96 hours to propagate the seed germ to develop agreeable aroma from the milk or cream, and finally reducing said temperature to and maintaining said temperature at about 35 .to 45 degrees `Fahrenheit for an extended period, the said introduction of air being continued during said stepsl to Scavenge away substantially all foul gases liberated by the milk or cream.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

. GEORGE SINCLAIR. 

